The Golden Leopard (18 page)

For an instant, anger nearly overtook her amusement. Did he think her a complete hen-wit? But it was only her vanity taking offense, and he mustn’t detect even that small chink in her armor. “Oh dear,” she said cheerfully. “When not polishing boots and pressing cravats, your valet is an executioner. But surely you have noticed he is older than you, and not so tall, and of slighter build as well. I should think you could take him down if you tried.”

“And I assure you, madam, that Shivaji is more than capable of dispatching me by several means, none of which require the use of a weapon. If ever I doubted that, what I saw when we were under attack by Rao’s followers convinced me utterly.”

Did he truly expect her to believe this nonsense? After one last look at the leopard, she made her way back to the chair and erupted into laughter. Incorrigible man. The Trial of a Thousand Screams, of all things. Nizams and fanatics and stolen icons. He ought to be writing Gothick novels.

“I’m delighted to have amused you,” he said, taking up a position across from her with one arm resting on the mantelpiece and the other folded behind his back. “But by God, I had six months on ship to concoct a fable. If I were out to gull you, surely I’d have come up with a more plausible story.”

“Perhaps. Or you could be relying on the my-story-is-so- outrageous-that-it-must-be-true ploy. It won’t wash, Duran. And when I cease being amazed at your powers of invention, I’m rather certain I shall take offense. Do you take me for a featherbrain?”

“Of course not. For all my sins, Jessie, I’ve never underestimated you. The story sounds ridiculous, I know. I could hear that even as I was speaking it. But I’d got used to it, you see. I
lived
every last one of the events I described to you. Look. Ask Shivaji. He’ll back me up.”

“I have no doubt.”

“Because you think he’s my paid servant.”

“Or a fellow conspirator. He’s not the usual sort of valet, certainly.” Memories unfurled in her mind. A slender figure leaning over her. A soft, accented voice speaking from what seemed a great distance. “Did he come into my bedchamber last night?”

“You weren’t meant to see him. I apologize for breaking your confidence, but I needed his help. Shivaji was the one brewed up the teas and advised me how to care for you.”

“Ah. When he’s not out killing people, he’s busy healing them.”

A smile tugged at his wide, mobile lips. “That’s the devil of it. He’s both sides of a coin. All sides of a polyhedron. Were you to speak with him, I have no idea what he’d tell you.”

“Oh, that I should do whatever you wish, no doubt. What exactly do you expect of me?”

“I’m not altogether sure. Identify collectors of exotic antiquities, perhaps. Then we’ll pay them a call, display the replica, and see what happens. I haven’t worked out the details.”

“But I do business only with the best families. Why would they admit you into their homes? Allow you to examine their collections?”

“An introduction from you would turn the trick,” he said, brightening. “Or you could make the journey with us. That would be best.”

Her amusement fled, trailing fury in its wake. And sadness, although she could not have said why it came to be there.

“You’ve no idea, have you, what you are asking,” she said at length. “Let me be clear. It has required six years of study, of cultivating the favor of people I’d as soon avoid, of putting aside everything most women value, to achieve even the mild success I am beginning to enjoy. Within a year or two I hope to have paid off the last of my debts. That may seem a small thing to you, but it will mark, at last, the beginning of what I have always sought. True independence. The ability to live my life on my own terms, however circumscribed. And now that I am within reach of my goal, do you imagine I will permit you to interfere?”

He ran his fingers through already rumpled hair. “But I’ve no intention of harming you. How could I?”

“By exploiting my good name to sell stolen property. It’s what I presume you are about, although your scheme may not be so straightforward as that. It doesn’t matter. Under any circumstances, to associate with you would be disastrous.”

He exhaled slowly. “There was a time you didn’t feel that way.”

“I know.” Her pulse beat erratically. “I was foolish then, and indiscreet. Had anyone caught us out, I would have been ruined. Not that I minded greatly at the time, it’s true, but now the stakes are greatly increased. Now I have more to lose than a chance of marrying well.”

“But I thought you had resolved never to marry. You told me so at regular intervals, in case I harbored ambitions above my station.” His voice softened. “Or were you taking care not to break my heart?”

She threw him an annoyed glance. “I’m sure there was no danger of
that.
And as you have reminded me several times since your return, there is nothing to be gained by dwelling on the past. Happily, no harm came of it. But my circumstances have changed, and the slightest breath of scandal would undo everything I have worked for.”

“Have I suggested more than a business transaction? I am looking for a statue, Jessie. The only difference between this transaction and the others you engage in is that I cannot pay you.”

“You aren’t listening! There are a number of people, some of them malicious, who disapprove of me and are eager to prove themselves right. I am a freak of nature, sir. An unmarried woman engaged in trade. Oh, elegant trade, to be sure, but it is a short step from the shop to the streets. Even impeccable behavior cannot shield me from criticism. To be seen in company with a”—she faltered momentarily—“with a bachelor of dubious background and uncertain respectability would compromise me altogether.”

“I see.” His voice was tinged with self-derision. “You must pardon me. I had not understood what you would be risking.”

Nor cared,
she thought, a cramp gripping her stomach. He was standing quietly, his eyes focused somewhere beyond her, his brow wrinkled with thought. He’d not given up, she was sure. He was merely calculating how to leap this temporary obstacle and bend her to his will.

But she had learned prudence in a hard school, with Hugo Duran as master tutor. Rising, she brushed down her skirts and, without looking at him again, crossed to the door. “I believe there is no more to be said,” she interrupted when he began to speak her name. “Put out the lights, if you will, before leaving. And don’t forget to pack up your leopard.”

She had just reached the velvet rope and slipped under it when he caught up with her.

“Wait, please,” he said.
“Please.”

Ahead of her, the passageway was silent and empty. It was late, but there might be guests still awake behind the bedchamber doors. She turned, a finger held to her lips.

“Is there nothing,” he said, obediently softening his voice, “that I can offer in exchange for your help?”

Light from the flickering wall sconces danced over his face, obscuring his eyes and his intentions. “You’ll not seduce me into compliance, Duran.”

His hand closed around the rope. “I wish you would permit me to try. But that possibility hadn’t occurred to me. I thought there might be something else, though.”

“I cannot imagine what,” she said, distracted by an unwelcome notion that had sprung into her head.

Gerald. Her demonic brother-in-law. Perhaps Duran would . . . But no. That would be trading one devil for another. There wasn’t a hair’s difference between them, really, except that she couldn’t imagine Duran brutalizing a woman.

“What if,” he said, “you could help me track the leopard without putting your reputation in question? Your good taste, perhaps, but not your virtue. What if, in return for a few weeks of your time, I could secure for you a degree of latitude you have never before enjoyed? What if I gave my word to disappear within, say, three weeks or so, and never return to trouble you again? Interested?”

Preoccupied with visions of setting Duran on her brother-in-law and hoping they’d tear each other apart, she had scarcely heard what he was saying until the last few words. Never trouble her again? Was that truly what she wanted?

Of course it was. When he was near her, she longed for all the things she could never have.

“I have been advising you to leave ever since you arrived,” she pointed out, studying his face. From down the passageway, a longcase clock chimed the hour. Midnight. Only that? She’d have sworn they had been together in her mother’s room for much, much longer. Half a lifetime.

“You are armed with a sword of fire,” he said quietly, “and have set dragons to guard your gates. It is wise to take care, princess, and to protect yourself, but not if it means closing out the world. I can give you something you want. Not without risk, I’m afraid. But if you weigh the advantages against the hazards, you may find it a good bargain.”

“That begs the important question, doesn’t it? How can I trust you to keep your word?”

“And how am I to persuade you that I will? All the high cards are yours, you know. My need is greater than you can imagine. I will agree to any conditions you impose. But in the end, you must put aside your fear and trust me. You must close your eyes and jump.”

He had taken leave of his senses. No, he expected her to do that. To take another headlong plunge into disaster because she could not resist him.

But he had miscalculated. She was no longer an irresponsible young rebel with uncontrollable passions. “Good night, Duran,” she said, smiling to show she bore him no ill will for being an arrogant nitwit.

He was over the velvet rope and at her side before she’d gone more than a few steps. With one hand on her shoulder and the other gentle on her bare forearm, he turned her to face him.

They were standing in the shadows, torchlight at his back, a chandelier illuminating the stairs some distance behind her. The bracelet on his wrist felt hot against her skin. His eyes, the color of the leopard’s jeweled eyes, glowed with an inner light.

“Marry me, Jessica,” he said. “Marry me.”